Sunday 16 January 2011

This Short Film Deserves Some Screen Time \{'_'}/




(I thought I'd add the credits, like a real movie :)

DIRECTED BY
VALERE AMIRAULT
JEAN DELAUNAY
SARAH LAUFER
BENJAMIN MATTERN

VOICE TALENT DAVID HENRY GERSON
davidhenrygerson.com
SOUND DESIGN BY NIKOLA CHAPELLE
AND ALEXANDRE HASLE


SOUND MIX BY NATHAN SENOT, AGM PROD.
agm-prod.com

ORIGINAL SCORE BY GREGORY SMITH
kickmusic.net

ORIGINAL 8-BIT MUSIC BY YANN VAN DER CRUYSSEN
nurykabe.com

CREDITS MUSIC IS "MAGICAL 8-BIT TOUR" by YMCK
ymck.net

VOICES RECORDING BY SPACEMAN SOUND
spaceman-sound.com

3D DESTRUCTION MADE WITH THE HELP OF FRACTURE
fracture-fx.com


AND A VERY SPECIAL THANKS TO :

Supinfocom Promo 2010, Abel Kohen, Thomas "Krishma" Eid, Matthieu "Bernie" Bernadat, Antoine Delacharlery, Bastien "Blast" Martin, Joan Baz, Chryssanthi Skalioti, Martin Amirault, Damien Ancinelle, Robert Bennett, Dominique Lolhé, Kevin Cordier-Royer, Tucker F. Kapp, Kevin Mannens, Ed Caspersen, Craig Davis, Maxime Hoguet, YMCK & Usagi-Chang Records, Carrefour, David Herbruck, Yann Legay & AGM Productions, Spor & Komor (0327KDG), and of course, our families and friends for their support.

Saturday 15 January 2011

Remedy = Remove Curse / Where do we Game from here?

V for Vendetta

Soundtrack for this Blog:-
New Model Army - Vengence
Magazine - The Light Pours Out of Me 
Bad Brains - I And I Survive 
Alkaline Trio - Mercy Me 
Big Business - Technically Electrified
The Birthday Massacre - Video Kid 
PVT - Crimson Swan 
DEVO - Watch Us Work It 
Eric B. & Rakim - Follow The Leader
Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross - In Motion 
Tubeway Army - Me! I Disconnect From You 
The Depreciation Guild - November 
Part Chimp - Crash The High Octave 
School Of Seven Bells - Bye Bye Bye 
Daft Punk - Recognizer 
Clinic - You Can't Hurt You Anymore 
Queens Of The Stone Age - Mexicola
Deftones - CMD/CTRL
Mochipet - Full Frontal Face Melt 
Cougars - There's No "High" In Team 
Pop Will Eat Itself - There Is No Love Between Us Anymore 
The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster - Monsieur Cutts 
Virgin Prunes - Baby Turns Blue 
The Faint - The Geeks Were Right 
Sisters Of Mercy - This Corrosion


Forgive me for being a bit vague in the following paragraphs, it is intentional, I don't want to burn my bridges just yet ;D
These are concerns formed from what I have been currently reading. 
If I discover any more revelations, I will include them, whether they counter my previous thoughts or reinforce them. 


As I understand it, the main problems arising today, regarding video game production, is that the Marketing tactics executed by the reigning giants of the industry, will increase the cost of development. 
Smaller Developers will have to focus more on shorter IP's with long term playability, with additional content added over time using online features (DLC). 


It could be compared to a noteworthy Art house, Indie film alongside a Major Movie studio's Summer blockbuster. 
There is an audience for both and all those involved in their production, should enjoy their time in the spotlight and reap the rewards.


Twisted Pixel are an Independent Developer




Unfortunately each console manufacturer tries to increase the complexity of programming onto their machine, to encourage developers to stick to an exclusive single platform release. 
The problem that Developers face is that they intend to produce multiple platform releases to recoup their lost expenditure incurred during development. 
In this current economic climate it is the only way for them to stay in business. 
A moderate hit is a massive loss for them. 
Blockbuster or just bust! 


Another factor that can either help or hinder is outsourcing. It can help towards meeting a deadline for a smaller team but requires more managing and scheduling. 
A potential risk that Developers must face now and factor into their companies best interests. 


The business model that Publishers favour is to rely on games based on previous industry successes. In some cases, smaller companies are swallowed by Publishers, just to get the revenue to finish an ambitious game, whilst bigger companies express interest, mainly, in Licensed Properties, Franchises and Sequels, which are a mixed bag. 
Some are surprisingly impressive (Batman: Arkham Asylum) where as others are just dreadful (Iron Man, Iron Man 2) and have little innovation and minimal replay value. The main draw back being how broad an audience these titles have to be aimed at. 
Ranging from young Children to middle-aged Adults. This usually has a detrimental effect on the complexity of the IP's control system, story content and game length.


Not all Franchise IP's are awful, but they are a very 'safe' choice. Some are 'carbon copies' of previous games, that had been a success in their time, re-branded and re-jigged but essentially a victim of 'Pong Cloning'. 


It is another example of a lack of foresight from big companies towards their own industry's achievements. They have come such a long way and still can not learn from the mistakes of the past. There is a real danger of the Market, once again, becoming saturated with the same game with a slightly different face, "sequel-itis" as it was called on this webpage: 
http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/jun2008/id20080616_308043_page_3.htm


This should be a time of innovation. 


The three main consoles have earned their stakes. Microsoft's success is a reflection of Sony's and Nintendo never seems lost for ideas or an audience for that matter. 
Their focus should be striving to accomplish how to improve and maintain the quality of what they have achieved. 
They make new worlds to explore. Go with that. 


Instead of reacting to 'sound and fury' marketing schemes , which briefly grab the customers attention, but generally 'signify nothing'. The 'Big Three' should be focusing on producing good quality IP's by aiding the developers and publishers in their process. Essentially protecting them
from these underhanded strategies. After all these consoles need games to validate their existence. Otherwise what are they? DVD players!


With the recent trend of hand-held gaming accelerated by Apple Devices, the market has been plagued by plagiarism and IP theft. 
Capcom's Maxplosion is a mirror image of Twisted Pixel's Splosion Man:-
http://www.mobile-ent.biz/news/read/capcom-faces-iphone-clone-controversy-over-maxplosion-game


More news about bad practice:-
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2011-01-14-hand-circus-founder-questions-gameloft-stance


To some people, this visual realm is considered a new form of artistic expression. 
Shouldn't there be a bit more respect for innovation? An appreciation for a team's vision. 


FAR CRY 2 by Ubisoft Montreal

ALAN WAKE by Remedy Entertainment
HALO REACH by Bungie

FINAL FANTASY XIII by Square-Enix

HALO REACH by Bungie (again)
SHADOW OF THE COLOSSUS by Team ICO
ENSLAVED: OTTW by Ninja Theory

ENSLAVED: OTTW by Ninja Theory (again)
UNCHARTED 2 by Naughty Dog

UNCHARTED 2 by Naughty Dog (Once more, with feeling :)
It seems like they have failed to realise the potential that games are now offering. 
This is a burgeoning frontier of entertainment that they have control of, they can make any realm a reality. Anything is possible. 



Video games now out-gross the film industry and in some regard, offer more entertainment value and depth than current films, (Uncharted, Alan Wake) they have also expanded the market to include the whole household as a customer. 
More importantly, there has been a complete lack of demand for any new consoles to be introduced. Aside from the race to release the newest inovation of a controller free interface (Kinect and Playstation Move) it is still a peripheral device for the current consoles.


As of right now, the customer seems satisfied, so keep them that way. 
No ridiculous 'add-on's'. (Sega R.I.P.)
Reduce subscriptions costs for online accounts. 
Provide reasonable support for Developers. Otherwise, NO GAMES! 
Market goes Crash-Boom-Crash! (again)



Microsoft recently removed backwards compatibilty for old Xbox games with the latest system update. I can see Downloadable Content being thrust upon us very soon. 

A lot of people are going to have to repurchase their gaming library, if they want to be able to enjoy those classic titles again!

Another pressing matter, that concerns us directly, is the real need for our government to support this industry, instead of turning it's nose up. 
Canada and France are benefitting from a government aided Tax Break. 
Before the coalition, there was a 20% Tax Break to be implemented in the UK. 
Alas, within six weeks of the announcement, it was dropped. 
Last year the games industry contributed 1 million pounds to the UK economy. 


With more support, surely this figure will increase dramatically?


"A good decision is based on knowledge and not on numbers"
Plato